Leonard Bernstein
(c) Deutsche Grammophon Arthur Umboh
The Venice Film Festival announced its planned lineup, which is scheduled to run August 30 to September 9. Maestro, a drama about Leonard Bernstein, will be premiered at the festival and be among the 23 movies competing for the Golden Lion, the festival’s main prize. The film, directed by Bradley Cooper, stars Cooper as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre Bernstein.
Maria Callas
(c) Farabola
The Greek National Opera in Athens is commemorating the Maria Callas centenary with an opera gala, an exhibition and a documentary film, among other events. The opera gala Callas at the Herodium takes place on 16 September, the anniversary of Maria Callas’ death in 1977, featuring performances by sopranos Anna Pirozzi, Catherine Foster, Vassiliki Karayanni and Nina Minasyan, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Greek National Opera under the baton of Philippe Auguin. Read More →
Early music ensemble Le Banquet Céleste has announced Damien Guillon’s decision to step down as artistic director in spring 2024. Read More →
The Taliban’s religious police made a bonfire of music instruments in the western province of Herat (Afghanistan), as disclosed in a report by the state-run news agency Bakhtar. Read More →
Armenian conductor Sergey Smbatyan, 35, has been arrested in his home country together with his father, former Armenian ambassador to Israel Armen Smbatyan, and stands accused of fraud against the state. Read More →
Die diesjährigen Sommerfestspiele in Erl sind beendet. Die Auslastung sei gut gewesen, sagt der Veranstalter: Vier ausverkaufte Abende, über 80% Auslastung bei den Opern und Konzerten und mehr als 14.000 Gäste durften im Sommer begrüßt werden. Read More →
Der Internationale Musikwettbewerb der ARD findet vom 28. August bis 15. September 2023 in den Fächern Harfe, Kontrabass, Klaviertrio und Viola statt. Eingeschrieben sind 41 Harfen, 52 Kontrabässe, 50 Bratschen und 19 Trios. Es sind viele Länder und alle Kontinente vertreten, aber die Asiaten scheinen ganz klar zu dominieren.
The latest Karajan Community Letter focuses on the operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. Another topic is the Canadian tenor Jon Vickers with whom Karajan worked a lot. Here is the link to this week’s Karajan Read More →
Le Dimore del Quartetto’s innovative European project designed for the new generation of chamber music performers takes a new step. As of today, the MERITA platform is available online. Its main goal is to increase the visibility and mobility of emerging professional European string quartets, thus representing an important step forward for the European music industry. Read More →
The former head of Italy’s public TV broadcaster RAI, Carlo Fuortes, has been named artistic director of the must still be approved by Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano. Read More →
